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“A mind stretched by a new idea never shrinks back to its original proportions.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes









ENERGY

STEPPING INTO THE FRAY: The House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee will hear from industry and environmental representatives today on advanced biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Advanced Biofuels Business Council's Brooke Coleman will testify on how to generate growth in the advanced and cellulosic biofuel sector, calling for a simple path forward: "Stay the course" on RFS. "Advanced and cellulosic biofuels cut emissions in every gallon and insulate U.S. consumers from the price impacts of the global oil market," he'll say. [POLITICO's Morning Energy, June 22, 2018]


COBALT, NOT SO MUCH : The 58 years of cobalt reserves looks like enough to supply battery expansion — there's about the same amount of proved global oil reserves — but demand could easily double in the next two years, and then double again, as batteries proliferate. And the metal creates other challenges. It is largely a byproduct of copper or nickel mining, for one, so there's little direct investment in its extraction, and nearly all the world's supply comes from People's Republic of Congo where working conditions are bad and child labor is employed. "Our technical experts, they were saying battery technologies are moving to be less cobalt intensive," Dale said. Indeed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted last week he wants the next generation of batteries in his company's vehicles to be cobalt free. [POLITICO's Morning Energy, June 22, 2018]



CYBERSECURITY

LEARNING THE SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS — The federal government should expand its cyber workforce training and education initiatives to recruit people who may not have all the skills but can learn on the job, a member of a government cyber advisory board said Thursday. The idea arose during a briefing for the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board by Danielle Santos of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education. Santos explained how NICE, a project of the technical standards agency NIST, prepared its recent report to the White House about the cyber workforce gap and ways to address it. Afterward, board member Chris Boyer, assistant vice president of global public policy at AT&T, asked whether government and industry were "being too specific in what we're requiring to get into the cybersecurity world, as opposed to identifying people that might be able to pick up those skills" over time. In some cases, he noted, jobs require people to have certifications that they can only obtain by working in similar jobs.
"What is the model for bringing somebody onboard who might be capable of obtaining security skills over a period of time but doesn't walk in with that certification?" Boyer asked Santos. In response, Santos said that NICE was working with the departments of Labor and Education to study how they recruited people by emphasizing "soft skills" that employees could build on with more concrete cyber training. The goal was for NICE "to see how we can put more emphasis on those soft skills." Santos acknowledged that sometimes people don't have all the necessary skills when they apply for a job but "they're fully capable of coming in and being an active member of your workforce."
With the current focus on certifications, agencies and companies sometimes "artificially limit ourselves," Boyer said, "because we're looking for such specific things now in how we advertise roles." For example, some jobs require a fluency in the Python programming language. What NICE and its partner should work on next, Boyer said, was "some way to onboard people that can learn this stuff over time."

The board discussion came on the same day the Trump administration proposed a government reorganization that recommends several steps for bolstering the federal cybersecurity workforce. Also at the board meeting, NIST unveiled research on what makes people click on phishing links and detailed its efforts to help lawmakers and the executive branch understand supply chain risks. [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, June 22, 2018]




BANKS APPROVE TRADE GROUP MERGER: "Banks this week approved the merger of the Financial Services Roundtable and The Clearing House Association, sources familiar with the matter said, sealing a tie-up that will consolidate lobbying and policy research efforts of the nation's largest lenders," POLITICO's Zachary Warmbrodt reports. "The new group, which will open its doors in July, will be renamed the Bank Policy Institute. Clearing House President Greg Baer will serve as the group's CEO. Top White House economic adviser Shahira Knight is joining the organization as its executive vice president and head of public affairs."

— "The boards of the Roundtable and The Clearing House approved the merger this week in unanimous votes, a source familiar with the matter said. But one dynamic that industry sources will be watching in the months to come is the interplay between the group's largest, globally active members, such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, and smaller, regional banks that will also fill out its membership." Full story. [POLITICO Influence, June 22, 2018]



ROGER STONE














U.S. SUPREME COURT






SCOTUS RULING COULD AFFECT NLRB ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES: The Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Security and Exchange Commission's use of in-house judges could have serious repercussions for the NLRB. The agency employs more than 30 administrative law judges who oversee and decide unfair labor practice cases. But under the ruling, the judges might now be considered "officers" subject to the Constitution appointments clause, which requires that all officers be appointed by the president or department heads. That could jeopardize some ALJs who were hired under past administrations and have not completed their terms. "I think there's a serious issue about whether they're properly appointed," said Scott Witlin, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg, a management law firm. [POLITICO's Morning Shift, June 22, 2018]










READ







TECHNOLOGY






SCREEN






On TV 

 Series/Season Premieres
"C.B. Strike"
Air Dates: Fridays at 10pm ET/PT on Cinemax; Series Premiere on June 1st
Based on: THE CUCKOO'S CALLING by  J. K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith
"Dietland"
Air Dates: Mondays at 9pm ET/PT on AMC; Series Premiere on June 4th
Based on: DIETLAND by Sarai Walker
"Condor"
Air Dates: Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT on Audience Network (DirecTV); Series Premiere on June 6th
Based on: SIX DAYS OF THE CONDOR by James Grady
"Marvel's Cloak & Dagger"
Air Dates: Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT on Freeform; Series Premiere on June 7th
Based on: The Marvel Comics characters of the same name
"Strange Angel"
Streaming Dates: Thursdays on CBS All Access; Series Premiere on June 14th
Based on: STRANGE ANGEL: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons, by George Pendle
"Marvel's Luke Cage" (Season Two)
Release Date: June 22nd on Netflix
Based on: The Marvel Comics characters of the same name

"A Very English Scandal" (3-part series)
Release Date: June 29th on Amazon Prime
Based on: A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of Establishment, by John Preston



INFRASTRUCTURE




IMMIGRATION





U.S. MILITARY







U.S. AGRICULTURE

FARMERS TARGET TRUMP'S TV TIME AGAIN: Farmers for Free Trade is trying again to appeal to Trump with a new 30-second spot on how the retaliatory blowback from his steel and aluminum tariffs will hurt American farmers. The new ad, created with the U.S. Apple Association, launches this week and will run on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC — Trump's most-watched channels — and online.
"The U.S. apple industry does depend on exports," Mark Boyer, part-owner of Ridgetop Orchards, says in the ad. "Without certainty in foreign markets, why would you invest in equipment, why would you invest in anything? The stakes are high. People will lose their jobs."
This is the third ad that Farmers for Free Trade — an advocacy group formed last year by several agriculture industry groups — has paid for in recent months to make the case that the president's actions on trade will be a major blow to U.S. growers, a key part of his political base.

"This situation is going from bad to worse," Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade, said in a statement. "Let's call it what is — this is a trade war that is impacting the livelihoods of American farmers; farmers we work with are paying higher prices for their equipment because of the steel tariffs, have had contracts canceled, and have been hurt by falling commodity prices." [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 19, 2018]



NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement.  I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended.
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